| Ninety-eight percent of all juices, including apricot juices, | | | | for an adult woman. In some studies with laboratory |
| sold in the United States are pasteurized to stop the | | | | animals, dried apricots have been as effective as liver, |
| natural enzyme action that would otherwise turn | | | | kidneys, and eggs in treating iron-deficiency anemia.To |
| sugars to alcohols. Pasteurization also protects juices | | | | keep them from turning brown as they dry, apricots |
| from potentially harmful bacterial and mold | | | | may be treated with sulfur dioxide. This chemical may |
| contamination. Following several deaths attributed to | | | | cause serious allergic reactions, including anaphylactic |
| unpasteurized apple juices that contain E.coli, the FDA | | | | shock, in people who are sensitive to sulfites. Apricots |
| ruled that all fruit and vegetable juices must carry a | | | | can also be found in medical uses. They are used in |
| warning label telling you whether the juice has been | | | | lowering the risk of some cancers. According to the |
| pasteurized. By the end of the year 2000, all juices | | | | American Cancer Society, apricots and other foods |
| must be processed to remove or inactivate harmful | | | | rich in beta-carotene may lower the risk of cancers of |
| bacteria.Five pounds of fresh apricots produce only a | | | | the larynx, esophagus, and lungs. Although this remains |
| pound of dried apricots. Drying remove the water, not | | | | unproven, the ACS recommends adding apricots to |
| nutrients. Ounce for ounce, dried apricots have twelve | | | | your diet. There is no such benefit from beta-carotene |
| times the iron, seven times the fiber, and five times the | | | | supplements. On the contrary, one controversial study |
| vitamin A of the fresh fruit. Three and a half ounces of | | | | actually showed a higher rate of lung cancer among |
| dried apricots provide 12,700 IU of vitamin A, two and a | | | | smokers taking the supplement.Cindy is the host of a |
| half times the full daily requirements for a healthy adult | | | | Free Asian Recipes website dedicated to all things on |
| man, and 6.3 mg of iron, one-third the daily requirement | | | | Asian Cooking and Culinary Guide. |